Wilma claims E27

[JMGOMEZ]

My 1976 E27 became a victim of Hurricane Wilma. Actually only lost mast, roller furling, sail and several gouges, etc. Insurance has estimated repair costs exceed insured valued (less than $10K), so they have declared her a total loss. However, they have giving me option to retain salvage, receive approximately $8400, keep boat and repair it. Obviously, I will need to make a decision very soon. I already had a long list of projects to do, this would add what would seem endless list of projects. I had her for 16 yrs., and it has been a good boat, but I think it's time to move on and hopefully up. My condo dock space is limited to what I have and maybe another 2 or 3 feet, making a 30 footer the largest vessel I could squeeze in. I would appreciate recommendations from all and comments from other Ericson owners who have E29 and E30's.

Joe
S/V Imagine

 

[Quiet Magic]

that sucks

Sorry man. Thats a tough situation.

 

[Annapolis E-27]

Sorry for the loss

Put her back together. The hull is sound and they are a great boat.

 

[NateHanson]

Might get lucky and find a rig from another E27 that's been salvaged at some point. You could call around to salvage yards, and possibly get lucky, fixing the boat for less than the $8500.

Nate

 

[JMGOMEZ]

Repair or Replace

Thank you all for the suggestions. I may just do some investigation to salvage yards, etc. to gather enough data to help me decide. Would like to hear from E29 owners as to significant changes from an E27: sailing, storage, etc.

Joe

 

[Deborah Klaus]

Hurricane Wilma damage

First of all, I want to tell you how sorry I am your boat was damaged. If you want to get a larger boat, by all means move up. If you truly like the 27, I suggest you fix her. I have three boats. All have been damaged by hurricanes. One is a small wooden catboat that already had some problems and then was damaged by Hurricane Ivan, so I have covered her and will get to her repairs sometime. The second boat, Ariel, was totaled in Hurricane Earl which hit Eastpoint, FL while I lived there. It took some time to get her repaired (almost 5 years--right--no insurance), but now she is sailing on Mobile Bay. Ariel has been with me for 23 years--part of the family. The third boat I took delivery of in August, a week before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. This is the Ericson 30-1. She spent quite some time on a mudbar after Hurricane Ivan, left to her own devices. What a tough boat! Many would have shuddered at all the work involved to get her back sailing again, but not me. After Ariel, Fawkes' problems are cosmetic. Albeit time consuming. Two major problems with my Ericson--no engine and a broken rudder. I bought an engine on ebay and the rudder looks like it can be repaired. The rest will be elbow grease. Anyway, I have digressed....my point is, I have gotten immense satisfaction in bringing beautiful dead boats back to life....maybe you will too. Good luck!

 

[Randy Rutledge]

E29 T

Sorry for the loss. I would look hard at fixing the boat. You know her nature, her strengths and her problems. If you decide to replace, the 29 is a great boat. I single hand my boat frequently and sail her into the slip on occasions. The interior and cockpit are very well thought out and make a short liveaboard compfortable. She sails well and has good speed.

 

[hcpookie]

I dunno - $8500 is a big investment toward a bigger boat! I know that doing the repair work myself, as a labor of love, would not amount to maybe half that. Me, I'm the "don't throw it away" kind of guy, so I'd probably repair it and use the extra cash to put toward major investments such as resurface the bottom (blisters?) or something like that. Tough call.

Then again, you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear... have you thought about parting her out for part value? You may be able to get enough from the parts to have that much more for a bigger one. Then you get a completely new boat with a completely new set of problems. Again, tough call.

If it were me, and you're talking about needing only new rigging and a mast, then I'd call around to see if you can find a used one from a salvage (maybe another Wilma victim?) or maybe even a new one from rigrite or someplace like that. "A few gouges" means perhaps a weekend or two of fiberglass repair, and you're back with a new set of rigging!